“Mom,” said Lyndsey.
Tracy lowered her hands and began to wring them, rubbing the knuckles on one and then the other. “I mean some of the neighbors brought me cookies and other nonsense and he just let me know he was in the neighborhood for police stuff.” She glanced at Lyndsey and then returned her attention to Frank. “I meant, I remember you were here on business.”
“Right. Gotcha.” Frank made a mental note to have Darla make some cookies for him next time a new neighbor moved in. He didn’t want to be known as Sheriff Doesn’t-Bring-Anything.
Back to business.
“Were you at the vet’s today, Tracy?”
Tracy’s gaze shot back to Lyndsey. There seemed little doubt she had been to the vet’s.
“I found a puppy.”
“You found a puppy? Where?”
“On my doorstep. In a box.” She glanced at the corner and Frank followed her stare to find a small cage with a towel lining the bottom.
“You buy that for the dog?”
“She had it. From her last dog,” interjected Lyndsey before Tracy could answer.
“Looks new.”
Lyndsey held her ground. “It’s not.”
“Where is it now?”
“What?”
“The dog.”
“She left it at the vet’s. She didn’t know what to do with it so she left it there knowing someone would take good care of it,” offered Lyndsey.
“That true, Tracy?”
Tracy nodded.
“You pulled out this cage and lined it with a towel and then decided to just leave the dog at the vet’s?”
“I realized I couldn’t take care of a dog.”
“You mean another dog.”
“Yeah. Another dog.”
Tracy held his gaze to show him how sure she was of her answers.
Frank didn’t believe her for a second.
“Were you aware the puppy had been stolen?”
Tracy’s eyes widened. “Stolen? No—”
“Stolen from Lyndsey’s place of employment.”
“We were just talking about that,” said Lyndsey stepping forward and in front of her mother, as if to limit Frank’s access to her. “I didn’t put two-and-two together at first when she said she found a dog, but she described the puppy to me and I knew it had to be Mr. Miller’s. I was going to report it to the cop who came to the house this morning. That’s where I was going when you blocked me.”
“The cop?”
“Like you.”
“Sheriff Carter?”
“Right. Carter. We have his number back at the house.”
“What time were you at the vet’s today, Mrs. Griffin?” asked Frank, turning his attention back to Tracy. She turned her head as if surprised Frank had remembered she was there, skulking behind her daughter.
“I don’t know. Maybe eleven?”
There was a knock on the door behind Frank and he turned to see Charlotte standing on the opposite side of the glass storm door. When he turned again, both women were looking at him.
“This is my, uh, associate. Do you mind if she comes in?”
Tracy shook her head and Frank motioned for Charlotte to enter.
“Hi,” she said, her gaze locking on Lyndsey. “We met this morning at the horse ring.”
“I remember.”
“This is Lyndsey’s mother, Tracy,” said Frank.
Tracy offered her a curt nod.
“Hi,” said Charlotte, before turning to Frank, expectant.
“Tracy was at the vet’s this morning, around eleven,” he confirmed.
“That was about the time we were at the Miller Estate,” said Charlotte, looking at Tracy. “Do you have your phone on you?”
Lyndsey scowled. “My phone? Why?”
Lyndsey tapped her mother’s hip, motioning the older woman behind her. “Sheriff, what is this about? My mother found a dog. That’s all. It’s not a crime to leave a lost dog at the vet’s, is it?”
Frank frowned. He hated it when people were purposefully obtuse in an attempt to hide their guilt. As if Lyndsey, he and everyone couldn’t see the glaring coincidences.
He also hated it when he didn’t know if something was illegal or not. Was it illegal to leave a lost dog at a vet’s?
“But it isn’t a lost dog, is it, Ms. Griffin? It’s a stolen dog. You don’t think it’s a coincidence the dog stolen from your employer ended up at your mother’s house?”
“Well, sure, it’s odd, but the other dogs—”
Lyndsey cut short and seemed to pale a notch.
Frank tried not to smile. Hadn’t Charlotte told him Lindsay never asked where she’d found the dogs?
“What about the other dogs?” prompted Frank.
“They were found here, too?” Lyndsey turned to look at her mother. “Didn’t you tell me the other dogs were found here too?”
Tracy nodded. “Yes. I did. They were. I heard they were.”
Damn. Obviously she knows how fast the gossip mill around here moves. A perfect cover.
“Where’s the box?” asked Frank.
“What box?”
“The box left on your doorstep with the dog in it.”
Tracy’s eyes darted left and right as she swept the house. “I maybe put it in the garage.”
“You probably took it to the vet’s,” suggested Lyndsey.
“Right. I did.”
Frank looked at Charlotte. “Did she take the puppy in a box?”
“Dr. Powers didn’t mention finding a box. Just the dog.”
“I took it there, but I threw it out before I went in,” said Tracy.
“So we’ll find the box at the vet’s?”
“Maybe. I might have stopped at the store first.”
“You took the puppy to the store with you and then threw out the puppy’s box there?”
Tracy nodded and Lyndsey stepped away looking unstable as she lowered herself into a kitchen chair.
“What did the box look like?” asked Frank.
“I don’t remember.” Tracy snapped her response. It seemed as though what patience she had for questioning had come to an end.
Frank hung his thumbs in his belt. “Mrs. Griffin, I have to tell you. I don’t think the puppy came in a
